The Odd Believer
by Burnzs
Summary: Jack is always happy to find a new believer, but they usually have other legends to work off of. Should he be happy that Jamie's new babysitter only believes in him, or worried?
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Rise of the guardians.**

The snow fell down on the late September afternoon as the small five year old skipped home from his first day of school. His excitement was only tempered by the fact that the other children were just as new as him and they took him in with open arms. He was now the prideful owner of two shiny new friends.

This boy was young. He still had the belief of magic that faded with age. He was still completely enamored with the world and had no reason to doubt the kindness of a stranger. He was just your typical naive young child.

Then he opened his front door to the sound of his parents yelling at each other. Hours later would find the young boy under his covers in a fitful sleep as the blankets wiped away the tear tracks from his face.

Little did he know, this was only the beginning The years passed and it did not get any better. It was a wonder why the two adults were never divorced. If they weren't fighting about important things like budgets and bills, they would argue about trivial matters like which friends the other disapproved of or if the two should go out to a social gathering or not.

Of course the arguments never made it out of the house. To the neighbors, they looked like the typical American family, so no one was the wiser.

Though the whole situation spans over several years, the real effect of the tension in the house didn't even take a full year to get to the boy. The first incident happened when the boy was walking home from school on the first day of his winter break.

He had just heard from his friends about a jolly fat man clad in red that broke into his house through the chimney and left gifts. He was really excited to tell his father of his new discovery. How was he supposed to know that his father would get mad at him for bringing up Santa Clause?

His father yelled out in rage about a satanic symbol of grand larceny. The boy did not understand what that meant, so he could only run to his room holding back the tears of disappointment. He never liked disappointing his daddy. He never brought up Santa around his father again and his teachers were a little worried when the boy showed up in class without that little twinkle of wonder in his eyes.

The next incident was a few months later when the boy was at school. He had just taken a large bite out of his apple and he couldn't hide his yelp when he saw his tooth stuck in the fruit when he looked at it. His friend was very excited and practically bouncing as he explained about the tooth fairy and how she would leave him a quarter if he left his tooth under his pillow. The boy was very excited and told his father of his tooth plans at the dinner table.

The father was not pleased. He went on a huge rant about made up stories and useless figures that promoted getting money without actually earning it. The boy did not put his tooth under his pillow that night. He never forgot that night.

Months later found the boy skipping out of children's church and he heard stories of a fluffy rabbit that delivered chocolates and sweets around the world on Easter Sunday. When he asked his father about this, the man was not happy about this either.

He ranted about demonic rodents taking attention away from he real meaning of Easter. The boy did not cry that night, for his tears had dried up after the second incident and he would not allow himself to show weakness like that ever again. He would make his daddy proud.

The following day, the teachers grew more worried when the boy lost some of the hope that kept him so cheerful. The night that followed had the boy in a fitful sleep as a black horse made of sand watched over him menacingly.

As the years passed, the boy grew to be more cynical as he had no one to believe in. He was clever and he often made jokes to relieve stress, however, these jokes were usually satirical and would criticize others. Many people were turned off by his lack of faith in human morals and he found himself pushing his friends away as he grew older.

By the time he was ten, he was completely alone, and no one wanted anything to do with him. He realized that the legends that his father did not approve of were taboo, and he was in the beginning stages of his rebellious phase, so he decided to find his own legend to believe in.

He used his new found energy to look at Google for an obscure story. The numbers were too vast, so he decided to narrow it down by looking for winter legends, since Winter was his favorite season. He automatically skipped over Santa Clause and was surprised when he found the name Jack Frost in a snowy font.

He did his research and was surprised when he read of how few really believed in Jack Frost. This was perfect. His father couldn't warn against it if it was too obscure to warn against.

**End**

**I know it's short, but it IS a prologue. Hopefully future chapters will be longer. I'm gonna try a new story, so give it a chance before turning away.**


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Rise of the guardians.**

Alex looked up at Burgess high school with trepidation. He was not looking forward to his meet up with the school bully. He has had plenty of experience when it came to starting a new school seeing as he had the pleasure of moving several times over the past six years.

He had his schedule and he slinked into the school. He was sure to avoid eye contact with everyone as he made his way to his locker and grabbed his books. Just as he turned around, a fist slammed into the locker next to his head and he did his best to not react and instead turned slowly to face his antagonist.

He was met with a shark like grin of a large well-built brunette in a football jersey. When he spoke, Alex soon realized that the two of them would not get along this year.

"Hey newbie," his voice was just promising pain, "It's time for the initiation into this lovely school of ours," he paused and sent another toothy grin, "After all, it must be difficult to transfer in during the middle of school.

Alex sighed. Just three more years of this

Hours later would find the poor boy slowly making his way home, careful not to jostle his injuries. However, to his surprise as he rounded the corner to his house, a brown haired woman was sitting on his porch across from both of his parents. Once he came over, his parents sent him a pleased smile and waved him over.

"This is Jane Bennett and she is our next door neighbor. She and her kids came over to welcome us to the neighborhood. Jamie and Sophie are playing in the backyard if you would like to join them."

Jane smiled and shook her head politely, "No it's alright, I'm sure he has better things to do than to play with little kids."

Alex's face lit up and his mother chuckled silently to Mrs. Bennett, "Alex enjoys playing with small children. We think he would make a great teacher or a nursery worker some day."

Jane smiled gently as Alex made his way towards the back door, "It's nice to see someone like that. The teenagers in this town are a little less than enthused when it comes to little kids."

Alex rounded the corner and could no longer hear Mrs. Bennett, but that was okay as he saw two little kids playing in the dirt behind his house and he could only chuckle silently at the two. The ten year old boy was in the middle of a rant to his toddler sister as Alex came into earshot.

"-and what's worse is that she wants us to drop everything and just meet the new people on the block. We were even going to see Jack today too. But No~. She wants us to _get along_ with the new people. Well at least they said that they have a kid we can play with. I hope he's not boring at least."

Alex couldn't help the small chuckle that escaped his lips, "I'd like to think that I'm not boring at all."

The boy whipped his head towards Alex and gave a sheepish chuckle, but it morphed into confusion, "Are you the kid that the grown-ups told us we could play with?"

Alex nodded with another stifled chuckle at the boy's dumbfounded look.

The little blonde girl decided to add her two cents, "But you're so old!"

"Sophie!" the little boy scolded, "Not everyone is like Jack," he then turned to Alex with an apologetic smile, "Sorry, we have a friend that looks about your age but he's much older. Sophie tends to think that other people appear like that too. I'm Jamie, by the way," he held out his hand.

Alex was surprised at the seemingly adult gesture but he decided to humor the little boy. That is, he started to by grasping his hand and shaking, but when he finished, he didn't let go, choosing instead to pull the boy to his feet and bring him closer to ruffle his hair.

"Don't try to grow up too fast kid, it sucks."

Jamie just pouted and Alex laughed out loud, "I'm Alex. It's nice to meet you. And I happen to only be sixteen, thank you very much."

Jamie threw his hands up in false exasperation, but Alex was able to catch the small quirk of the lips as the boy walked over to Sophie, "Alright so now that we've gotten introductions out of the way, My best friend, Jack told us that we need to give you an initiation."

Alex couldn't hide the involuntary flinch at the familiar words, but thankfully, the smaller boy didn't seem to notice. In fact, Jamie seemed to be getting even further into his spiel, "First, we have a list of stuff you have to do."

Alex rolled his eyes in mock-annoyance but he flashed a big smile, "Alright short-stuff, bring it on."

Jamie pouted at the nickname, but he recovered quickly, "First, you have to go inside and make us a snack."

Alex mock saluted unable to hide his smile due to the incredibly serious look on the child's face, "Understood! I will be back with goodies."

As he was leaving, he smiled even bigger when he heard Jamie say, "I can't believe that worked! Initiations are awesome!"

Moments later found Alex returning with Graham Crackers and cheese sticks. Jamie was pleased. He rubbed his hands together and cackled in a disturbingly accurate imitation of a super villain, "Excellent, my minion! Now we shall take the world!"

Alex could only blink in confusion as the two kids broke out into a fit of giggles. When he only looked more confused, Jamie took pity on him and smiled mischievously, "Sorry, my friend Jack did that when we first met and I thought it would be fun to do."

Alex shrugged but couldn't hide his grin, "I like the sound of this Jack person. Will I be able to meet him soon?"

Jamie sighed dejectedly, "Probably not. But hey! Maybe you could come with us to he park and meet the rest of my friends! That could be the rest of your initiation!" Jamie nodded to himself as if he had just come up with the solution for world hunger.

Alex smiled in response, "That sounds great! We should coordinate our schedules."

"Right!" Jamie nodded again even though Alex doubted the boy even knew what he had just said, "I'll go ask my mom to cordinate my ske'dual," Alex stifled a laugh.

"No need," the three of us jumped at the sound of Jane Bennett coming into the backyard followed by Alex's parents, "Alex, I was wondering if you would like to babysit this Saturday. I have an all-day meeting and I need someone to watch Jamie and Sophie for me."

Alex smiled and nodded, "I should be able to do that," he turned to Jamie with a smile, "Well, Short-stuff, It looks like we might get that play date sooner."

Jamie pouted at the nickname before he shook his head, "It's not a play date. Those are for babies."

Alex nodded with an overly serious face, "Right! We will have a very heated discussion over politics and global warming."

Jamie tilted his head, "I would think we would just go to have a snowball fight and go sledding."

Alex nodded sagely, "Brilliant, this is why I don't plan social outings, I never get the vibe."

Jamie just looked more confused, so Alex waved it off, "Never mind, I'm just being stupid. I guess I'll see you on Saturday.

Jamie nodded eagerly, "Sure! See you then!"

Alex just sort of went on auto pilot as his parents shooed the Bennetts from their house and out the door. Now he had an unplanned, though not entirely unwelcome, babysitting gig that he had to plan for.

**End**

**Nope! Still too short.**


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Rise of the guardians.**

Alex blinked slowly down to the brats in front of him. It had been a few hours since Mrs. Bennett left, but it was only 2:00. The children, unsurprisingly, were restless to get out, so he had little choice but to take the children to the park or suffer through moaning and groaning.

To his surprise, they were not the first ones to the park. In fact, there were several people waiting for them. Alex would have just left the kids to their own devices, but he was stopped by that one nagging question. He turned to Jamie with a quirked eyebrow, "So which one of these punks are Jack? I want to have a word with him about influencing impressionable young minds.

Jamie frowned, "I could tell you, but there's a really high chance that you won't be able to see him even if he's here. Grown-ups don't usually see him."

Alex sighed, "I would not call myself Grown-up."

Jamie shrugged, "Doesn't matter. Only those who believe in Jack Frost can see him."

I pulled back and blinked. Well, that was rather random. I would have voiced my confusion, but it was stopped when a white haired boy that looked about my age just fell out of the sky and waved frantically to stop Jamie. I did my best not to stare.

"Jamie, don't go shouting that to just anyone," he sounded oddly concerned. He gave a small smile and continued, "I really appreciate you trying to get me more believers, really I do, but if you start telling that to adults, they might think that you're crazy or something and that's a whole different can of worms that we don't need to deal with yet."

So this was Jack Frost. That was interesting. As of all the research that he had done on the winter spirit, there hadn't been any that described him as a teenage boy. It made the desire to believe in him even more prominent. If Jack Frost was really this young, then he wouldn't have to feel awkward trying to talk to some one much older than him.

However, what Jamie said about only being able to see him if you believed was reasonable. He vaguely recalled reading something about that.

"But Jack!" Jamie whined, "I thought you said that we were your only believers! Don't you want people to see you?"

Alex inwardly smirked, but outwardly held up his hand to stop Jamie, "So let me get this straight. Jack Frost is here?"

Jamie smirked at Jack before turning to me and nodding vigorously, "Yup!" he pointed at Jack, "He's right there!"

Alex smiled and turned to Jack, but deliberately looked down at his knees, "Is he supposed to be as short as you?"

An indignant huff was heard from the winter spirit under scrutiny, "See! I told you he wouldn't see me," his voice softened, "I really do appreciate it though."

Jamie would not budge, "No!" he practically yelled at Alex in desperation, "Jack is actually the same height as you!"

Alex moved his gaze up and deliberately looked into Jack's eyes. He looked mildly uncomfortable, "I can't tell if he's actually looking at me, or if he's actually just guessing."

Alex held in a laugh, "So what exactly does this tall Jack frost look like?"

Jamie groaned, "He's got brown pants and a blue hoodie. He also has blue eyes and white hair. He's a teenager like you!"

Alex nodded, "That seems a bit right," he turned to Jamie, "So what do you plan to do today?"

Jamie frowned, "Wait, so does that mean that you can see Jack?"

Alex smiled, "Yup! Long time believer. Jack Frost is a major part of my childhood," he turned to the winter spirit, "Though, no offense, but you're not exactly what I thought Jack Frost would look like."

Jack's grip tightened on his staff and he beamed, "Huh. None taken. I haven't been able to speak to someone of your age before."

Alex smiled, "Well, I can't say I've ever spoken to a winter spirit of your age before, either."

Jack snorted and Alex turned back to Jamie again, "Seriously, though. What do you plan to do? I doubt that you just came over to gawk all day."

Jamie shook off his shock before beaming up at the older boy, "Now that you can see Jack, this'll be much easier. We can make two teams and it won't be unfair because we'll each have a teenager on our teams."

Alex deadpanned, "Yes, because having a mortal teenager versus a super powered immortal teenager is so much fair."

Jack just waved his hand as if waving off a bad omen, "That's silly! What makes you think that I'll use my powers?"

Alex didn't miss a beat, "You haven't denied it yet."

"Why would I deny it?"

Alex threw his hands up, "Alright, whatever, let's just get this slaughter over with."

And so it commenced. Jack was even kind enough to provide two well built snow forts. Alex learned the kids names as the teams were set up. Jack's team consisted of Jamie, Pippa, and Monty. Alex had Claude, Cupcake, and Caleb.

Alex somehow still wasn't satisfied. Alas, he could only suck it up as he turned to get ready. He would need a lot of snowballs.

Unsurprisingly, they stood no chance. Alex prided himself on his chess skills and he maneuvered the other team into a corner and unloaded on them. Jack just created a gust that blew the snowballs off course before he and the rest of his team pelted Team Alex with an unreasonable amount of compacted snow.

Alex was a good sport though. He took defeat with grace... if grace meant waiting to hit Jack Frost in the face with a snowball. Laughter ensued.

Jamie nodded in approval when the laughter died down, "Excellent. Now we'll move onto Sledding."

Alex's confidence drained away at the devilish smile on Jamie's face. Jack wasn't helping either with his own smirk. His Anxiety only grew when the two shared a glance and their smirks widened.

He chuckled nervously. "What have I gotten myself into?"

**End**

**I suppose it's short again. I guess maybe I could write a few chapters then squish them all together, but then it would take me longer to update. *shrugs***


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Rise of the guardians.**

Two indiscernible figures stepped into the Bennett doorway. One was much taller and bulkier than the other. However, they were both completely white. The taller one belted out a laugh and shook his head to reveal blonde hair, "Boy, I sure feel like a snow man. I've got snow in places even I didn't know I could get snow!"

The smaller figure shook his head to reveal brown hair. Jamie beamed up at his now favorite babysitter, "That was awesome, "His features turned puzzled, "Where exactly do you think that you have snow?"

Alex chuckled nervously as he shook the rest of the snow off, "Um... I meant snow in my undies."

Jamie grimaced, but nodded with mock seriousness, "You're right. That is quite unpleasant."

Alex rolled his eyes playfully and followed the shrimp into the house. Before closing the door, he turned to Jack "Did you want to come in, or did you have some other snow to spread?"

Jack chuckled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head, "I really shouldn't. I usually just play with them till they have to go in."

Alex smirked, "You usually aren't seen by the house watcher. It should be fine if you stay for an hour. People can just blame the weird weather patterns on global warming," he then added almost tantalizingly, "We have hot cocoa."

Jack perked up, "Done."

Alex chuckled and he pulled the winter spirit by his wrist through the door. He sat the immortal teenager down on the couch next to Jamie before he went to the kitchen, calling back, "Before we start... Jack will you melt?" he didn't look back for an answer.

He heard Jack's response as he set the water up, "Naw, I'll be fine. I have a lower tolerance for heat, but I can stand it to a point."

Alex nodded to himself, "Very well," Moments later found Alex standing in the doorway holding four mugs of steaming beverage and overlooking as Jamie and Jack made jokes together with Sophie giggling along. He couldn't stop the small smile.

He strolled over with purpose and handed the three mischief makers the three mugs before holding his own, "Be careful, it's hot."

Jack scoffed and downed the whole thing as if it were going out of style. The mortal teen could only gape at the boy as he smacked his lips in cocky glee. Alex sighed in exasperation, "Da-,"he trailed off as he shot a look at the innocent couple before he finished, "-rn winter spirit."

Jamie tilted his head to the side in confusion and Alex wanted to face-palm, but chose instead to change the subject. He turned to the winter spirit, "So what's it like to be a winter spirit?"

Jack gave a flat look, "How long were you pondering on that question?"

Alex gave a sheepish chuckle and scratched the back of his neck nervously, "I guess I could ask about the weather? Small talk's really not my forte."

"Wanna hear one of my stories of my time at the north pole?"

Alex smiled, "I guess that would explain why it snows so much up there. Sure, I would love to. What, did you ride a polar bear? Maybe annoy some yetis?"

Jack smiled, "Actually, my friend North lives up there and he let's me stay in his workshop when I'm not spreading snow and mischief."

Alex nodded in approval, "That's good. Everyone needs a place to hang his hat, he leaned forward with his head in his hands with a mock serious expression on his face," So, spill."

Jack nodded, "So me and this other guy, Bunny were in an argument and he got this great idea to settle it by playing a game of turkey bowling. I got a strike, but as soon as I walked over to pick up the Soda pins, the soft drink suddenly exploded in my face and caked the back wall with carbonated beverage. North was unamused as he made us clean up after ourselves."

By the end of the story, Jack was guffawing too much to speak properly, Jamie was laughing and Sophie was caught in a fit of giggles.

Alex smiled as he sipped his cocoa "That must have been quite the job of cleaning up."

Jack shrugged, "Naw, once the yetis and elves joined in, the work was finished in no time."

Alex blinked and looked at Jack strangely, "Did you say elves?"

Jack looked equally confused, "Well, yeah. Santa's elves."

Alex only frowned, "Santa doesn't exist."

His only answer was two blank stairs and one confused one.

**End**

**insert derogatory statement about short chapters.**

**Props to**

**muggleborn . dragon ****. ryder**** for the idea for turkey bowling at the north pole. Don't tell that I used the idea, this sparkling individual might disapprove of such tactics.**


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Rise of the guardians.**

Alex did his best to stay strong under the three stares that focused on him. Inwardly, he was sweating, while keeping a blank facade up. However, Jack and Jamie were a little more forceful while Sophie watched on intently.

"What do you mean he's not real?" Jack demanded, "how is it that you believe in me, but you don't believe in North?"

Alex shrugged uncomfortably, "I've never been visited by Santa, so I have no reason to believe in him. Also, my father told me he was a satanic symbol of grand larceny."

Jack curled his fists, "What about the tooth fairy? The Easter Bunny? Sandman?"

Alex frowned, "No such thing as Tooth fairy. She's just used to promote getting money without working for it. The Easter Bunny is just a demonic rodent that takes away from the true meaning of Easter. And lastly," he paused, "Who's the Sandman?"

Jack looked indignant, "North is no such thing! Tooth is very work oriented," he paused, "I'll concede about Bunny being a demonic rodent, but he only wants to bring hope to the world. I've yet to see him actively pursue an attempt to change Easter," he paused again, "And what do you mean, 'Who is Sandman?' He's, like, the guardian of dreams!"

Alex held up his arms in defeat, "Well, I don't believe in such fairy tales."

Jack deadpanned, "And yet you can still see me."

Alex waved it off, "You're much more believable than you give yourself credit. How else do people think that frost is made?" he crossed his arms and rolled his eyes, "Condensation? Please! That's ridiculous."

Jack seemed pleased by this response, so he grinned like an idiot. Unfortunately, he then went off into his own little world only seeming to be able to smile like an idiot, so Jamie took over, "But really! You GOTTA believe in the other guardians! They're like the coolest ever!"

Alex shook his head, "I'm sorry, kid, but I've seen too many things that disprove their existence. Jack Frost is the only fairy tale for me!"

Jack's goofy grin grew.

Jamie crossed his arms and nodded with all of the authority of a ten year old, "Then it's settled. Jack's gonna take you to the pole and introduce you to North and the others."

That snapped Jack out of it, "Woah woah woah. I don't think so! The guardians are all really busy and I don't want to disturb them if it isn't needed."

Jamie shook his head in protest, "Don't you see? His childhood was ruined because he didn't have any of the guardians to believe in! He's just a husk of a man!"

"Hey!" Alex protested, only to be ignored.

Jack crossed his arms and tilted his head to the side in thought, "I guess that makes sense. I'll see about getting him a ride to the pole."

"Hey!" Alex called, "Don't I get any say in this?"

"No."

The answer came from all three other occupants in the room, which shocked Alex because he didn't even know Sophie was paying attention. His shoulders slumped in defeat, "If I say that I agree that they exist, will you just let me go back home peacefully?"

"Nope!"

Again, the answer was chirped by the three others, who then shared a look before bursting out laughing. Alex sighed in defeat but nodded in acquiescence. Jack just smacked him on the back and began to laugh uproariously along with a snickering Jamie and a giggling Sophie.

**XxoxX**

Jack landed at the pole and practically skipped up the stairs towards North's workshop. After some inner debate, he reached up and gently rapped on the giant wooden door. The door swung open and the intimidating figure stepped out. His face revealed from the shadows and Nicholas St. North beamed down at the winter spirit.

"Jack!" he enthused, "So good to see you! What is new?"

Jack chuckled nervously, "Well, you see, there was this boy in Jamie's town that I thought needed a little help to believe, and Jamie thought it might be a good idea if he met you all.

North nodded, "Very good! How old is the little fella?"

Jack coughed, "Um, sixteen."

North straightened and his grin slipped away, "Jack," he began gently, "Everyone stops believing eventually. You can't change that. That seems about the right age for him to stop, so there is not anything we can do."

He turned around to get back to work, but he was stopped at Jack's next words, "He said that he was never visited by any of the guardians."

North turned back to him with a new found fire in his eyes, "Are you certain of this?"

Jack nodded sadly, "He said that he was told not to believe at a very early age so he never got the chance to believe," he paused, "I actually think the guy's pretty cool, so I wanna do all I can to help him out."North nodded, "Very well. You tell Yetis where to find boy. I will summon the others to globe room."

Jack only wasted half a second to wonder why telling the yetis would help, but he decided to ignore it for now. He alerted Phil before making his way through the halls and into the middle room. He sat down and kicked his feet up. When the others arrived, they shot Jack a questioning look, but he just shrugged. Not even he knew what North was planning. Once North finally came into the room, the guardians all looked to him questioningly, but he simply held up a finger.

Suddenly, a snow globe portal appeared and a small burlap sack flew through and landed with a grunt. Jack's eyes went wide, though out of concern or amusement is still to be determined, "You didn't."

He ran up to the sack and untied it to let the captive out. Alex shook off the shock and dusted himself off before he looked over at Jack, annoyed, "Jack, care to tell me why I was kidnapped by yetis and thrown through what I'd guess was a magic portal?"

Jack chuckled nervously.

**End**

**For the record, I think that Santa with his swords is totally BA. I originally planned to have Alex say as such, but I don't think this rating allows it. Therefore. I'll just let you know now.**


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Rise of the guardians.**

Alex wasn't amused. Here he was, just reading a book on his bed when out of a giant portal, two yetis, of all things, jumped out and grabbed him and shoved him into a sack. He would have written it off as a hallucination, but once he crawled out, he found himself being met with familiar frost blue eyes. Once his initial shock was over, he turned his confusion onto the nearest target.

"Jack! What the heck, man! Please tell me that you didn't decide to use your frost magic crap to send Yetis into my house just to kidnap me and bring me to the North Pole."

Jack nodded with his annoying grin, "All right then, I didn't," at Alex's annoyed look, he held his hands up in a placating manner, "Really, I didn't," he paused and his stupid grin grew, "North did."

Alex gave him a flat look, "Uh-huh. So where is this jolly fellow that demands my audience?"

Jack paused as if listening to something, "Well, it seems that you really can't see them," he pointed to the side of the room, "He and the others are currently standing right there. North, Tooth, Bunny, and Sandy."

Suddenly, a golden figure became visible. It was by no means flashy. One moment, there wasn't anything there, then there was a short golden man standing there. Alex blinked a couple times, rubbed his eyes, blinked some more, then he turned to Jack with an unamused look, "Alright you win, but why can't I see all of them?"

Jack frowned, "What I don't get is why you can even see this workshop since you can't see North," he paused again and the golden man turned and looked at a space. Jack nodded, "I see, that makes sense."

Alex waited for his own explanation, None came. His eyebrow twitched in irritation, "Well, what did he say?" he snapped. "I can't actually hear him."

Jack chuckled sheepishly, "Sorry, I forgot," he received an eye roll for his plight, "North says that you believe in Yetis, and they live here, so you can see the place."

Alex gave a skeptical look, but then he remembered that a freaking golden man appeared out of nowhere and he changed to a blank face and nodded. He walked over to the little man and knelt down to his level, "So you must be the Sandman, Sandy, if I remember correctly."

The Sandman nodded and shook Alex's hand before images appeared above his head. Alex blinked. There was a bed, then a few Zs, then what looked like fireworks.

Alex smiled, "You're the guardian of dreams?"

Sandy's face lit up and he shook Alex's hand vigorously. Alex just chuckled and turned back to Jack, who went a little slack-jawed, "Well that was easy," he said to the silent winter spirit, "Now I wonder why it was so easy to see Sandy, but I can't see anyone else."

Jack frowned, "That's something I would like to know," he paused, "North thinks that you're sub-conscious may be telling you that they aren't real and that's what's keeping you from seeing them. Have you recently had a traumatic incident that may have made you lose hope, wonder, or the desire to remember?"

Alex sighed but looked at Jack, "I really hope this isn't some hallucination that my mind made so that I could finally deal with my messed up childhood."

Jack blinked, clearly caught off guard, "Where is this coming from? Moments ago, you were just telling how you were starting to believe again."

Alex gave a long suffering sigh and he looked down to his feet, "My childhood was not good. My parents stripped my innocence at a young age. I have had pent up feelings ever since and I've been told that it isn't healthy. I just really don't want you to be an illusion. That would really suck."

Jack smiled, "It's alright, we just have to be able to restore that innocence that was taken from you," He paused, "Tooth! Now's not the time!"

Alex looked up, but quickly realized that Jack was talking to one of the "Guardians," The tooth fairy. He looked questioningly at Jack who just gave a defeated sigh, "You really know how to ruin a serious moment," he turned to Alex, "She wants you to smile a big toothy grin."

Alex did just that and suddenly, Jack cringed, as if something was assaulting his hearing, "Are you alright?" he asked.

Jack used a pinky to clean out his ear, "I don't think we've gotten a reaction like that from Tooth since she got a look at my teeth. Though I have it on good authority that mine are still better," he gave a toothy grin of his own and his teeth were white as freshly fallen snow. It was kinda unnatural.

Alex sighed, "So how exactly do you plan to restore my," he ticked them off on his fingers, "wonder, hope, and desire to remember?"

Jack beamed, "Let's do North first! I'm sure he could restore wonder easier since we're in his workshop."

Alex waited in anticipation, but nothing happened, "Well?" he asked.

Jack scratched his chin in thought, "North says to have a tour of the workshop," he grinned, "I'm still filled with wonder when I see it, so it shouldn't be too hard."

Alex smiled and nodded. He followed Jack into the workshop as the winter spirit shouted in glee. As they walked, Alex turned to the little golden man and he frowned, "If I already had my belief fixed for you do you need to get back to work? I would hate to mess with your job."

Sandy smiled gently but waved it off. Alex was still unsure, but he could do nothing other than worry, so he decided not to, instead choosing to run after Jack. Once they left the room, his breath caught at what he saw.

He was on a very high floor of a giant spiral walkway, and at the center of the room was a giant globe. It was covered in these bright yellow lights. However, what caught his eye was the flickering light that sat at the very top. He made a mental note to ask about it later.

He followed the hyper immortal teenager through the halls, gawking whenever he got the chance with Jack explaining about the stations of each yeti. The Yeti's were using tiny construction materials like hammers and nails and they were making the most wondrous things Alex had ever seen.

One Yeti was stationed next to a large group of yellow robots. Suddenly, without warning, the Yeti let out a yowl of frustration and threw his brush down as he stomped off. Alex saw Jack wince, "You'd think he'd have learned to paint all of the toy's red by now."

Alex had no clue what that was about, so he just smiled and nodded. When he finally finished the tour, They stopped at the very bottom of the path right in front of the large globe and Jack turned to face him, "So, how was it?" he asked, "Can you see North now?"

Alex looked around hopefully, but, no fat man in red appeared. His shoulders slumped and Jacks did the same. Alex waited patiently as Jack conversed with the invisible Santa.

Suddenly, Jack lit up, "Alright, Just wait a second, North sent one of his Yetis to retrieve it."

Alex quirked an eyebrow, "It?"

Before Jack could respond, Alex was distracted when two items were shoved into his hands. One was a small scrap of paper with a messy scrawl. The other was... his breath caught.

"North said that you only ever asked for one toy when you were younger," Jack began, only to be cut off.

Alex smiled as he ran his hand down the toy with fondness. He remembered that short time, "I was so excited when I first heard about Santa. I went straight home and wrote one thing down on a list. (I didn't want to be greedy) It was a request for the coolest toy robot that was in the store. At the time, my parents hadn't been able to afford it and I really wanted one, so I was going to ask Santa.

I would have sent it, but my father scolded me for believing in such nonsense. I went to my room and tore it up in a mixture of embarrassment and frustration," he looked at the small letter then back up to Jack, "but how did North get it?"

Jack smiled softly, "North says that all letters to the north pole get sent to him. Even if they are destroyed. There's some magic mumbo jumbo that I don't want to get into."

Alex still ran his fingers over the toy again and he stopped when a droplet fell onto the toy. He slowly lifted his hand up and found his cheek suspiciously wet. He sniffled and wiped his eyes, "I-I don't know what's wrong with me. I told myself never to be this weak again. I never wanted to cry again."

"That is wonder of Christmas."

Alex's head shot up at the voice and through his blurry vision he saw a red coat. He suddenly lost himself and he launched himself onto the red clad figure as tears slid down his face. He barely registered when he felt strong, large, hands begin to rub gentle circles on his back.

**End**

**So that's Santa and Sandy down! Just two more to go. I think I'll do the demonic rodent next. I do not pride myself on my emotional writing, so keep that in mind. I think I do funny pretty well, though. For the record, my keyboard sticks, so that might explain the typos... hopefully. I fix what I see, bu I usually miss some.**


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Alex did his best not to gape as the beautiful piece of machinery came out of the garage and completely took his breath away, he turned to Jack frost and the newly acquired Santa Clause, North, and Sandman, Sandy and just gaped, "Are you guys telling me that presents are delivered on that? I always thought that you had a more... traditional sled."

North gave aloud, tremendous laugh that shook his belly and he slapped the gaping human on the back, "Tradition is nice, but I like to modernize. It helps me keep up with times."

Alex blinked, "There are freakin' rocket boosters. Do you KNOW how much that could increase your street cred if it got around?"

North chuckled, "My street cred is fine as it is. After all, what is believer if they have no wonder?"

Alex shrugged, "Fair enough. So where are we headed now? If I am to understand correctly, you all planned to force me into uncomfortable situations until I admit with my heart and soul that I believe in you.

Jack frowned, "When you say it like that, it makes it sound like we're forcing you to do it."

Alex gave him a pointed look, "Need I remind you of the sack?"

Jack chuckled nervously, but before he could come up with a response, North had already shoved the two teenagers forward and onto the vehicle. Alex felt his grin slip as he felt the sled rock to the side, "Is this thing safe?"

North let out another loud, booming laugh, but he said nothing more, instead choosing to snap the reigns. It started out fine, at first, the sleigh just moved forward at an extreme speed that brought tears to the mortal's eyes, he was fine enough, though because he could handle a little speed, but then North spoke.

"I hope you like the loop-de-loops!"

With that, the color drained from Alex's face as he stared up at the largest looped track he had ever seen. He froze, paralyzed in fear as they went up it and down. He sighed as they went back to driving normally.

Jack smiled at him reassuringly, "There. Its over," and Alex couldn't help but relax his shoulders, that is until Jack's next words reached him, "Oh wait, no its not," Alex looked up in time to see an even bigger loop and his mouth went dry, as they began up, he opened his mouth, "Jack! You bast-" The rest of his sentence was cut off by the rushing winds, but Alex was sent stern glances by two previously unseen guardians and a cocky smirk by one very annoying winter spirit.

As soon as the entrance came up, Alex had mixed feelings. On one hand, they were finally going to exit the track of death so he wouldn't have to suffer through that anymore, but on the other... they were driving off a freaking cliff.

As the sleigh lifted off, Alex was surprised how easy and smooth the transition was. If he hadn't seen it, he would have never been able to tell that they had lifted off. Just as they were flying, suddenly, Jack was lifted up by the wind and Alex watched with growing horror as he was blown off the sleigh. He was about to get up and check on his wintery friend, but suddenly a thought hit him.

Jack could fly. His eye twitched. That dude was just trying to use his fear to cause him to panic and look over the side at him just to find him lounging there, and he would probably say something stupid, like "Aw, you do care," or something equally humiliating. Alex wasn't amused.

"Jack!" Alex raged, "I know you can fly, you jacka-," his sentence was suddenly cut off by the large globule of sand that blocked any sound from coming from his mouth. He looked over to Sandy, who was staring at him pointedly and he sighed in defeat before nodding his acquiescence. He knew to beware of Sandy and his silent style.

With that, Jack flew back up with a huff and pouted like a child that didn't get his way. North all the wile looked on amusingly and when he saw that Jack was back up, he pulled out what looked like a snow globe and whispering to it before tossing it forward and to Alex's complete shock, a large glowing portal appeared and North flew straight into it.

As they entered the portal, Alex gawked at the pocket dimension all around him. It kinda looked like someone had thrown some crayons into a blender. When they exited, Alex was shocked to see that the large snowy landscape was no longer there and was replaced with a large, green pasture.

Once he was sure that the sleigh was completely on the ground, he jumped out and kissed the ground before gagging and spitting to the side. He stood up straight and dusted himself off as if he didn't just have a mental breakdown before turning to Jack, "So what's next?"

Jack smiled, "There are eggs in front of you that you have to believe to see."

Alex nodded and closed his eyes, "I believe there are eggs in front of me," he opened his eyes and could only gape. There were indeed eggs. Thousands of eggs. What's more is that where there was once simple pastures, there was now multiple streams of what looked like dye, as it was pink and blue and all sorts of fun colors.

Jack smiled at his awestruck expression, "Welcome to your hope station. The Easter Bunny said that you can make a few of your own eggs and he will use them for Easter.

Alex's face lit up, "You mean it?"

He didn't even wait for a response before he ran forward and grabbed an egg to start with. He was very gentle when he held it as he didn't want to make it uncomfortable. He wasn't sure if it could be uncomfortable, but the fact that it was kicking its little legs around must have meant that it felt some discomfort, right?"

He grabbed a nearby cat tail that looked suspiciously like a paintbrush and dipped it into the nearby blue paint before he proceeded to paint a swirling design on the shell with as much care as he could. Thankfully the paint dried quickly and didn't get on his clothes, so he had pretty free reign.

Jack whistled in admiration as he looked down on Alex's creation, "Wow. Bunny was right."

Alex raised an eyebrow. What would the Easter Bunny say about him? He looked up at the winter teen that was still fixated on his egg before he frowned, "What did he say? Did I do something wrong?"

Jack shook his head frantically, "Oh heavens no! Bunny just wanted me to tell you that he thought that you were doing a wonderful job of painting, and he wanted to give you this."

Alex couldn't help the pleased blush as he took the proffered item. It was a small pendant shaped like an egg and when he opened it, he felt his pleased smile turn more gentle as he read the small message carved into the locket.

**At the end of the day, we must go forward with hope and not backward by fear.**

Alex ran his hand over the locket. It was just like the toy in North's workshop. He could feel the years of doubt and self-deprecation slipping away as he smiled down at the trinket. However, this time he would not break down as he did before.

Instead, he looked up calmly, only to lock his brown eyes with another green pair. His calm demeanor slipped away and he screamed.

"Holy shi-," he stopped when he noticed Sandy pounding his fist into his palm in a threatening gesture, "cow," he finished lamely. Though, how could you blame him? There was a freaking six foot tall rabbit staring down at him expectantly. He could only gape.

Jack cackled before he snapped his fingers in front of Alex's face.

Alex shook his head to rid himself of the shock, "Well, that was unexpected," he looked over to the giant Rabbit, "Can I still keep the cool locket?"

**End**

**I'm almost done... I think. I hope you enjoyed so far.**


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

**I don't own Rise of the Guardians**

"No."

The declaration was short and straight to the point. Alex could have easily dealt with being carried by Jack, he could even deal with the flying deathtrap of a sleigh, but he drew a line when it came to jumping into giant sinkholes. It wasn't like he had a _total_ death wish.

Bunny rolled his eyes, "Don't be such a drama queen. It's not like its life threatening like North's sleigh. Just think of it as a giant slide."

Alex gave a dubious look, "Yeah, a giant slide to parts unknown, possibly to a very gruesome and painful death," he paused and added quietly, "Besides, I don't want to get dirt stains on my pants."

Now it was Bunny's turn to look dubious, "You expect me to believe that?"

Alex just crossed his arms and looked away, pouting like a small child. Unfortunately, this was all the opening that Jack needed to gently nudge Alex forward a little, enough to send him into the hole.

Now all that was left of the boy was an echoing, "Jack!" that bounced around the hole. Said winter trickster exchanged a smirk with the demonic rodent and the two jumped into the hole after him.

Meanwhile, on the other part of the world, Alex found himself flying out of a hole only to land firmly on the same surface that he left. He appeared to be on a giant floating castle in the sky. He slowly looked around in confusion.

"But..." he began, "How..." he trailed off again, "But I was falling down..." he paused, "And there was nowhere for the hole to come up..."

Suddenly, his mental breakdown was interrupted when another hole appeared and deposited Bunny and the little winter hellion and Alex rubbed the area between his eyes to stave off the oncoming headache.

"So how come I can see this place if it's the Tooth Fairy's domain? If I am to understand correctly, I needed to believe in North to be able to see his workshop, I needed to believe in Sandy to see him, and I needed to believe inn Bunny to fully experience his warren. If that is the case, how come I can see the Tooth Fairy's palace without any prompting?"

Bunny shrugged, "Beats me, mate, maybe its a subconscious belief, so that you may not completely believe, but that's enough to still see the palace, but not the actual Fairies."

Alex sighed in defeat. He was too young for this crap, "So how exactly do you expect me to believe in the Tooth Fairy?"

Jack smiled a toothy grin, "Tooth's going to find your teeth so that she can show you her magic," a pause to get a response, "Wait, you can't find them?" he turned to Alex with a furrowed brow, "Do you happen to know where your baby teeth may have ended up?"

Alex blinked, "I have them at home in a bag in my kiddie box."

Jack blinked, "Well, that was rather easy. Bunny would you go get them?"

Said rodent responded with a shrug before he jumped into a newly made rabbit hole.

"How come you need my teeth?" Alex asked innocently.

Jack gave him a flat look, "For one thing, you've got a lot of quarters coming to you."

Alex chuckle nervously, "Right, so what do we do until the bunny gets back?"

Jack snickers, "He prefers Kangaroo."

I shot him an amused look, "If you don't mind, I'm going to refrain from insulting the giant rabbit with boomerangs."

Luckily, a hole opened up and the being of the conversation hopped out carrying a purple drawstring bag. Alex wasn't too sure that he was comfortable with the Easter Rabbit breaking into his kiddie box so easily.

Jack winced again, "Apparently, Tooth is excited to see your teeth since she missed out on them. She even has a small box to put them in."

Alex turned to question the winter spirit, but he stopped when he realized that the teeth had disappeared from his visual spectrum. He could only sigh as he waited for the Tooth Fairy to get done doing her thing.

"Look! Jack exclaimed, "The best part is yet to come! It's so cool when she activates your memories!"

Alex blinked, "What do you mean? Is she just going to-"

He was interrupted when diamonds appeared in front of his vision and they began to flip away and change into what he guessed were flashbacks.

_**XxoxX**_

_A seven year old Alex ran into his father's room and jumped into the mans arms before giggling happily. The man wrapped him into a giant bear hug with no hesitation, causing the young boy to giggle harder._

"_Daddy!" the little boy cried, "Happy Father's day! I made you this card!"_

_He then pulled out a small piece of construction paper that he had folded in half and was currently decorated with obscene amounts of glitter and color._

_His father just laughed loudly before turning to his boy, "I love you, son"_

"_I love you too, Daddy."_

_**XxoxX**_

_A ten year old Alex was in the middle of frying up some eggs when his mother walked into the room._

"_Whatcha doing, honey?" she asked._

_Alex beamed, "I'm going to make eggs and toast for you and Daddy as a surprise breakfast. I learned how to make it from my friend at school, so I wanted to show you! Its suppose to be a surprise, though, so don't tell daddy and pretend you didn't find out."_

_His mom smiled warmly at him, "Honey, I'm so proud that you learned how to do this and you decided to do it for me and Daddy, but cooking is dangerous."_

_Alex pouted while still watching the egg mixture on the pan,"But Momma! I'm a big boy now! I can do it!"_

_His mom shook her head fondly, "Oh I know you can, dear, but I want to watch you cook it just in case you need help. This IS your surprise after all."_

_He brightened, "Really Momma? Thank you!"_

"_You're welcome, dear."_

"_I love you, Mommy."_

"_I love you too, Honey."_

_**XxoxX**_

_An eleven year old Alex followed his parents into a large green grassy field, weaving around the two grownups and laughing all the while. The two merely smiled at the boy as they join in on his enjoyment. Finally, they reached their destination and his mother set the picnic basket down under the newly bloomed cherry blossom tree._

_The family of three all sat down together and laughed as they ate from the quickly diminishing picnic basket stash. Alex was laughing all the way while his father smiled and his mother just laughed along with him. They were a truly happy family._

**XxoxX**

Just as the final sparkles cleared from the memories, Alex was suddenly hit with a large wave of regret. Here he had been resenting his parents the whole time because he had thought that they were disappointed in him and that he couldn't live up to their standards, when he had completely forgotten the whole reason that he had wanted to please them. He had known that they loved him, but his stubborn mind had refused to admit it.

Once again, Alex had to fight back tears as he realized the mistakes he had made. All that resentment for naught. All those self-destructive actions. It was just too much and he could feel his emotional control slipping and he sat down on his hands and knees as memory after memory of his parents being wonderful hit him and he felt his guilt pile on more and more.

Suddenly, he found himself in a motherly embrace and a female voice whispered soothing words. He felt like a ten year old again as he buried his face into the shoulder of the woman as he continued to get hit by memory after memory of his parents until he couldn't take the emotional overload and he passed out.

**End**

***Covers head and hides for cover***

**Wow, that was cheesy. I had NO idea what I was doing the whole time. I had actually planned to let him be strong through the memories, but as I wrote, I realized that, Holy Crap! If you were resenting people who loved you and you never gave them a chance to prove themselves and you realized that you were wrong, how would you feel? **

**I will admit that, yes, not everyone would react that way, but since he locked up his tears for ten years, they had to come out sometime, right?**

…

**Right?**

**I hope that this chapter doesn't put me down a notch on the manliness scale.**

**K, ta ta!**


	9. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

When Alex finally woke, he was surprised to find himself on a bed in a small room, and the light snow flurry outside told him that he was no longer in the tooth palace. He could only assume that he was in the North Pole again. Unless Jack had some righteous pad that he was unaware of.

He would have made his confusion known, but the crashing coming from outside his door made him sit bolt straight. However, his surprise turned to amusement as he watched the Guardians all tumble into his room. From the looks of it, Sandy and Tooth stood off to the side as the three others tried to enter Alex's room at the same time, and the small doorway did not fit the three guardians as they pushed to get in.

Alex smiled bemusedly, "Well, hello to you guys too."

Jack was the first to recover and he jumped up and practically flew over to the side of Alex's bed, "Dude, you're up! Great! Now I can take you home!"

Alex held up his hands, "Wait, wait, wait. That's it? You dangle this magical new world in front of me and you want to take it away just like that? Can't I at least have time to soak in the information? Maybe ask some questions? Get a quarter or two?"

North laughed a loud, guttural laugh that shook his belly, "Is great idea! Come everyone! Let us go to globe room! Alex can be informed there!"

The small band of misfits entered the globe room with the human gawking even more so than before due to the complete restoration of his beliefs. The guardians all watched in contentment as the boy finally let himself be a child.

He sat on the big fluffy armchair as he looked onto the guardians with a new found wonder and the legends could only smile at a job well done. The sixteen year old was now showing more to them than he had the whole trip.

"So," Alex began, turning to North, "Are there really elves? I only saw yetis making toys when we took the tour."

North laughed again and proceeded to answer the boy's question and those that followed after. The time passed as the boy asked the guardians all about their jobs and got surprising answers. The Q&A was going so well that they almost didn't notice when a light shone in from the window.

Luckily, however, Alex was taking in everything he could so much that the change of lighting was practically a blaring sign. He pointed and asked, "What's with the light?"

Tooth gasped, "That's Manny! Is there trouble?"

The moonlight went to the center of the room and a shadow appeared that morphed into the form of a man with a pointy nose. Alex only looked on with confusion, but Jack was quick to react.

"How's that possible? I thought that we sealed him away with his nightmares! It hasn't even been a year. He can't have possibly been released already!"

The shadow morphed into a full body shot and Alex saw what looked like sand fell off of him and it formed into a horse that began to stomp the ground.

North's eyes widened and he explained for Jack and Alex, "Pitch's nightmares weren't all destroyed and his lingering darkness created a stray Night Mare. If what Manny says is true, then that means that this one in particular would be following the last order that Pitch gave to his army."

Tooth took up a thinking position, "So what was Pitch's plan before he was sealed? We know that he was trying to destroy all belief. So it was to target the last believer…" she trailed off and her eyes widened.

"Jamie!" Jack finished her thought and the guardians exchanged a worried look.

**XxoxX**

Meanwhile, the said ten year old was happily oblivious as he made his way home. He was a little nervous since he hadn't heard back from any of the guardians. How hard could restoring one kid's belief possibly be?

Unknown to him, a pair of glowing gold eyes were glaring at him from across the street. Of course, he couldn't see the giant sand horse because he didn't believe in the boogey man. Unfortunately, this did not heed the Night Mare, as it just sent a bit of corrosive sand into the break line of an approaching truck that was coming up just as Jamie happen to be crossing the crosswalk.

Jamie stopped and looked up in in fear as the truck started zooming towards him… right in the middle of the street. Just before the truck hit, a blue blur shot forward and grabbed Jamie and flew him out of the way.

Jamie looked down in time to see a snow globe portal close and he heard a deep chuckle above him and he smiled up at a grinning Jack.

"That was a close one, huh bud?"

Jamie just smiled harder. Jack placed his friend down on the snow next to a frantic Alex who went into doting mode and he looked over Jamie for any injuries. Jamie just let him do it as he went down from his adrenaline high.

When Alex finished, He looked up to Jack with a fearful expression. Jamie was confused at first, but he realized that Alex was actually looking _behind_ Jack, but he didn't see anything to be afraid of.

"Um, Jack," Alex began, gaining the winter spirit's attention and directing it towards something behind him, "I don't think there's just one."

Jack turned around and went wide-eyed, but he spoke in a low tone, "Alex, I want you to get Jamie out of here. Jamie, follow close behind Alex and don't hesitate to run. You won't be able to see them. The other guardians and I will do the best to finish them off."

Jamie went wide-eyed, "Jack," his voice trembled, "I'm scared."

Jack moved to lean down and comfort the child, but Alex beat him to it. He crouched down and placed a hand on Jamie's shoulder, "It'll be okay, Jamie. You just have to believe in Jack and the other guardians."

Jamie nodded nervously, but he still grabbed Alex's hand and the two started to run. Jack's figure disappeared as the two rounded a corner and Alex weaved around the invisible enemies as best he could and they seemed to be doing well. Jamie only had a few seconds to wonder why his babysitter could see this threat, but a quick turn caused the thought to leave him.

Once they stopped in a nearby alleyway, Jamie thought that this was probably the best place to get answers. He turned to ask what was going on, but he was interrupted when Alex suddenly grabbed him in a bear hug and turned him around and Jamie heard a squelching noise.

"Are…Are you alright?" Jamie heard Alex's voice above him.

"Yes," Jamie answered in a tiny voice, "What's wrong?

"Oh thank goodness," Jamie looked up at Alex's reassuring smile, but unfortunately, Jamie knew it wouldn't be okay by the trail of red that came from his babysitter's mouth. He stepped out of the protective embrace and gasped when he saw the shrapnel sticking out of Alex's back.

Without Jamie to hold him up, Alex fell on his stomach and Jamie couldn't help the guilty wince. He knelt down next to the prone figure, trying to be strong, "It'll be okay," he said quietly. "Just hang on and I'll try to see if I can get a doctor."

Alex smiled weakly, "Sorry, short-stuff. I don't think so. I don't think that I can," he coughed out a little blood and Jamie winced again, "I'm just glad that I could be a kid one last time before…" he trailed off, unable to finish the morbid thought, "Thank you, Little Man. You helped fix my childhood."

With those words, the light left his eyes and Alex knew no more.

**End**

**I LOVE IT! I got a suggestion for how to end my story that wasn't as lame as usual! I mean, it was still lame, but it gave me a valid reason to kill off my OC. I love killing my OCs, so I decided to run with it. Unfortunately for you, it was an anonymous review, so you'll never know what it was until it actually happens.**

**Um… I'm still new to this whole rating thing, so should I raise the rating since there's blood? A question from a fan fiction noob…**

**K, ciao**


	10. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Jack was pacing back and forth while the other guardians sat calmly watching on with worry. It had been a few weeks since the funeral and Jack was still feeling the guilt that he couldn't protect the child that was not quite a child.

"Jack," North began quietly with concern, only to be interrupted.

"No!" he snapped back, "I should have acted quicker. I should have been able to finish off the night mares before they got to Alex and Jamie! I should have been there! I just…"

He trailed off and fell to his hands and knees. The others were better able to handle the loss, but this was Jack's first failure to protect. While the older, more experienced guardians had already experienced failure and seen children die due to their inability to help, Jack was still new to this and he was just as heartbroken as he started out.

The others knew that Jack would make it through this, but for now, all they could do was to let the boy grieve. However, it was cut short by a large monitor that gave a loud whine.

The guardians all shot looks at the strange new contraption that looked to have been installed recently. Jack looked between North and the machine before voicing the whole room's confusion, "North, what _is_ that thing?"

North gave a hearty laugh, "After I found out that you were alone for so long, I realized that we don't want a spirit to have to go through isolation like that again, so I created machine in your honor. This tells us that there is new spirit!"

Jack blinked, "A new spirit?

North nodded, "Yes! It says that the current location of the spirit is in Burgess!" he paused, "And whatever they are doing is lighting the globe up! There are twice as many lights in Burgess than there were this morning!"

Jack blinked, "So first Pitch, then me and now this new one? What, is Burgess some spiritual hotspot?"

North shrugged, but he stuck his hand up, "To the sleigh!"

Moments later found the guardians pulling down into the town and Jack blinked as he spotted a familiar tuft of blonde hair. The new spirit was watching over the children as they played and laughed together. Just as Jack touched down, North perked up, "Manny says that the new spirit is a new theme. He says he is the spirit of belief!"

Jack crept closer, but he was stopped by the large group of kids that ran up to him. He couldn't help the large grin as the kids all called for his attention. There were twice as many kids since he last visited, so that must mean that he was getting more believers.

Jack absentmindedly noted as the others were swarmed by their own group of kids, some kids even running between multiple groups. Whoever this new spirit was knew exactly what they were doing. Just as Jack finally pulled away from the kids and towards the figure, the spirit of belief turned to Jack and smiled, causing the winter spirit to go slack-jawed.

"Alex?"

_**The End**_

**Who didn't see **_**that**_** coming?! C'mon, raise of hands…**

**So… it's finally over. Imagine that. I bet you were expecting more. Too bad! And here I planned just to have him live and spread the word to his kids, but we can't all know. *shrugs* Ah well, hope you enjoyed it! I know it was a little short, but it got what I wanted across.**

**K, Adios!**

…

**Oh… I guess I should ask for reviews at least once in this story, right? Nah, not worth it.**


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